Canvas has pronouns options. Great! However, they are extremely limited. The options available are: "ze/zir, hir/zirs, hirs;" "they/them/theirs;" "he/him/his;" and "she/her/hers." There are no other options.

This is not very good. Furthermore, this has been decided by Mines at some point; the defaults Canvas has without the list being modified is "she/her," "he/him," and "they/them" [1].

Why is this an issue? There are two major reasons. First, it does not allow for mixed pronouns. The Trevor Project's national survey shows that "nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ youth who use pronouns outside of the binary opt to use combinations of he/him, she/her, and they/them" [2]. For example, one might use "she/they." For there to be no options for this is very limiting to those that do not use strictly binary pronouns.

The second reason this is a problem is that it is unnecessarily restrictive. I understand that Canvas only allows pronouns to be chosen from a set list to prevent vulgarity or the disaster of moderating user's pronouns, but there are two very simple improvements that could be made (in addition to mixed pronouns). First, there needs to be an "other" option. Currently, if one does not fit into the four options Canvas allows (also note that only one in four people who use neopronouns use "ze/zir" [2]), they must either use inaccurate pronouns or not set their pronouns. Not setting pronouns leads to gendering largely from their name in Canvas discussions and the like, which is problematic. The second simple improvement would be to add an "any/all" option. Many genderqueer, nonbinary, and genderfluid people use "any/all."

In essence, the pronouns list needs at least the following five options added:
- "he/they"
- "she/they"
- "he/she"
- "any/all"
- "other"

Ideally, each of the mixed pronouns would also have both orders (it generally denotes preference), though that might cause too much clutter. In any case, this is a bare minimum for inclusive pronoun options in Canvas.

It doesn't appear I can share links on this platform. Hmm.
[1]: lib/pronouns.rb file on Canvas' GitHub page (instructure/canvas-lms) lines 20 through 25
[2]: "Pronouns Usage Among LGBTQ Youth" from The Trevor Project